Hip Hinge Dowel Drill

beginner · hinge

Setup

Take a straight dowel, a broom handle or an empty bar. Run it down your back so it touches three points together: the back of your head, between your shoulder blades and your tailbone, holding it at the neck with one hand and at the low back with the other.

Execution

Stand hip-width apart, put a soft bend in your knees and keep that bend.
Inhale and push your hips back as if closing a door behind you with your backside.
Let your torso follow and stop at the point where all three contacts are still touching the dowel.
Exhale and drive the hips forward to stand tall, squeezing the glutes for one beat.
Do 8-10 reps a session until you can fold to knee height without losing a single contact point.
The first contact you lose marks your safe range for every loaded hinge you do.

Breathing

Inhale as the hips go back, exhale as you stand. Breathe steadily and never hold it, because this is a technique drill rather than a heavy set.

Quick cues

Keep all three contact points.
Hips back, not chest down.
Soft knees, and keep them there.
Lose a contact, that is your limit.
Brace like you expect a punch.

Common faults

Fault: Bending the back down instead of sending the hips back
Fix: Stand one foot-length from a wall and practice tapping it with your hips, which only works if they travel back.
Fault: Letting the knees bend more and more until it becomes a squat
Fix: Put a chair right in front of your shins so the knees cannot travel forward.
Fault: The dowel leaving the back of the head because the chin lifts
Fix: Tuck the chin slightly and let your gaze drop with the torso to the floor ahead.
Fault: Forcing the fold until the dowel leaves the lower back
Fix: Stop at the deepest fold that still holds all three points and live there for another week.

Equipment

bodyweight, other

Muscle groups

legs, back